Swimmer&#39;s foot-paddle.



J. BONITO.

SWIMMERS FOOT PADDLE.

APPLIUATION FILED MAYz, 1913.

1,098,471 Patented June 2, 1914.

c/,Ban i'.

www,

coLuMulA PLANOGRAPH co..wASl|NTON. D. c.

JEROME BONITO, F NEW YORK, N. Y.

SWIIVIIVIERS FO()T-IIEADDL'Ev Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 2, 1914.

Application iled May 2, 1913. Serial No. 765,122.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that l, JEROME BONITO, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Swim mers Foot-Paddles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

rlhis invention relates to new and useful improvements in artificial propelling de vices for swimmers, and as its principal object contemplates the provision of a foot paddle which may be worn on the swimmers ankle and will operate to give the drive of the swimmers legs a greater bearing surface in the water.

The above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described 1n the following specification and then more particularly pointed out in the claim which is appended hereto and forms a part of this application.

lfiith reference to the drawings, wherein l have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts: Figure l is a front eleva.- tion illustrating the foot paddle as 1t is applied to the swimmers ankle; and Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Proceeding now t0 the description of the drawings, the numeral l designates the body portion of the paddle which is preferably formed of any suitable type of light sheet metal, and is substantially tl-shaped. rlthe edges of the member l are rolled or turned, as at 2, to prevent the paddle from sliding through the water on the working stroke. The member l is riveted or otherwise secured, as at S, to a Y-shaped reinforcing rib Il, the longer leg of which projects beyond the apex portion of the paddle, as at 5, and is pivoted by means of a pin 6 between a pair of spaced perforated cars 7 and 8, formed integral with and projecting lat erally from a base plate 9. The plate 9 is bolted or riveted, as at l0, to an ankle strap 1l., which is provided with the buckle 1Q of any suitable or desired design. The terminal 5 of the member l is enlarged as at 13,

being rounded on its lower face, and fiat tened on its edge face as at le. An eXpansive helical spring l5 is secured at one termlnal to the plate 9, and is fixed at its other terminal in any suitable manner to the ad Jacent face of the paddle l. The spring l5 is designed to normally hold the member l at an approximate angle of thirty degrees to the face of the member 9, as will be observed by reference to Fig. 2.

ln operation the ankle strap 1l is buckled on the ankle of the wearer' and, when the legis drawn forward, the member l swings on its pivot 6 in the direction of the plate 9 against the tension of the spring 15. linmediately upon the start of the working stroke of the swimmers leg, however7 the member l swings into a position of lateral extension to the plate 9, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. lit will be observed that the swimmer thus attains a greater purchase on the water. lt is to be observed in this connection that when the member l is in a position of lateral extension with respect to the base of the plate 9, the flat face ltof the member 5 abuts the adjacent face of the member 9, thus acting as a stop for limiting the swinging movement of the paddle.

In reduction to practice, l have found that the :form of my invention, illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description, as the preferred embodiment, is the most ellicient and practical; yet, realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will. necessarily vary, l desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention, as defined in the appended claim.

l/Vhat I claim is:

A swimmers foot paddle comprising an ankle strap, a base plate secured to the ankle strap, a pair of spaced ears formed on the base plate centrally thereof, a substantially V-shaped paddle member, a Y-shaped reinforcing and securing rib secured to said paddle member, an angular ear formed on said rib and pivoted between the spaced ears on the base plate, said angular ear beingl adapted to limit the movement of the paddle t0 a position of horizontal extension relative to the base plate, said paddle meinber having its edges curved at approxi- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature mately righi; angles to the body portion in presence oftwowitnesses. thereof, and a helical spring secured to the JEROME BONITO.

base plate and the paddle for normally hold- 5 ing the paddle in angular relation to the l/Vitnesses:

base plate and for returning the paddle to LEO CALCATERRA, its normal position. M SIMON STEINGUT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

